Statistical differences in selective profiles between H. sapiens and SARS-CoV-2 genomes discover double or single stranded DNA or RNA

Abstract

Abstract Background The neutral theory of evolution intended first to explain evolution mostly by drift. By and by neutralist added to random factors, purifying selection, selection with small coefficients and homologized selective neutral to selective equivalent alleles, making it indistinguishable from some models of the synthetic theory of evolution. Therefore, I developed a method to study neutral evolution by the distance to neutrality (randomness) of the distribution of the two bases of dinucleotides separated by 0, 1, 2…K nucleotide sites. The distance was the value of the chi-square test. This method informs on the adaptive nature of 5’-3’ polarity and of the double or single stranded structure of nucleic acids. The method obtains the significance matrix (chi-squares values) vs separations (K) of the deviations from neutrality of dinucleotides; it compares the selective profiles (significance order, sign of selection and selection coefficient) between parallel (Par) and antiparallel (a-Par) dinucleotides with their index dinucleotide. DNA complementarity defines Par and a-Par. The distances of selective profiles between the index-Par or Index-a-Par dinucleotides were compared between them and between the human chromosome 21 (HCh21, double stranded DNA) and SARS-CoV-2 (single stranded RNA). Results In HCh21, the Index and a-Par dinucleotides present almost equal selective profile, while the Par dinucleotides differ from the Index profiles. In SARS-CoV-2, a-Par and Par dinucleotides differ from the Index dinucleotides. The test detects double or single stranded DNA or RNA. Double stranded DNA structure and 5’-3’ polarity are adaptive evolutionary traits in humans or SARS-CoV-2. Both genomes coincide in the most negatively selective dinucleotide whose bases are contiguous: CG. The agreement or disagreement of selective traits of genomes within a biotic community measured by this method offer a complementary approximation to studies on ecological relationships of communities with members of different taxa. Conclusions These analyses show the possibility to detect single or double stranded DNA or RNA of organisms by a simple statistical test of their genomes, and offer a new tool to study ecological or evolutionary processes